Cresswell's Guide to Getting Lucky
by kylaren
Summary: Thorne runs into problems trying to plan a special night with Cress. It's more sweet and silly than steamy. I wasn't sure what rating to give it. {This is my first fic} Title is a play on a short story Marissa Meyer wrote about Thorne.


The scariest week of Carswell Thorne's life began in the cargo bay of the Rampion, in an intimate moment with Cress. And it was about to end here in New Beijing Palace.

Thorne and Cress were back at the palace to celebrate the engagement feast of Emperor Kaito and Queen Selene, or as Thorne still called her, Cinder. At least, that was the cover story. Thorne was actually here to celebrate something _very different_ with Cress tonight. All week long he'd wracked his brain, remembering everything he knew about Cress, reliving every good moment they'd shared. He vowed he would make tonight as special for her as she was to him. Thorne just needed to get over the occasional terror he felt of screwing it all up.

But it was alright. Carswell Thorne was a {recovering} criminal mastermind, and he had a plan. He would wear his best clothes, he would bring one of Cress' favorite things – the outdoors – to their room, he would not throw up from nerves. Putting on his favorite blue button down shirt, one he had long associated with his best, luckiest days, Thorne looked himself over in the mirror. Clean teeth, dreamy eyes, a bit of stubble on his jaw; he was the perfect mix of rugged and sexy. Pleased, Thorne winked at his reflection and watched it wink back at him.

It was time for phase one of his plan: convince Kai to give him a room large enough to fit the pine trees he'd stowed away on the Rampion.

He'd have to go through hell, meaning an argument with Kai, to get the room. But he relied on his signature charm to get it done.

"Seven evergreens?" Kai asked. "I can't imagine why you'd need a room big enough for one, let alone seven." Thorne sighed before Kai went on. "The Eastern Commonwealth is grateful for all you did in the war against Levana, and intends to provide you with every hospitality. But this is ridiculous, even for you."

"Listen, your Royal Hiney," Thorne argued, "It's not for me, it's for Cress." When that had no effect, he changed tactics. "Aces, Kai, don't make it so hard for a guy to give his girl a romantic night in a palace."

"It is my palace," Kai mumbled, before adding, "So evergreens are your idea of romantic?"

Thorne shook his head. "It's not the trees. It's what they lead to." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Kai groaned. "Trust me, Kai. This works." Thorne spoke with more confidence than he felt.

He wrapped an arm around Kai's shoulders and spoke in a quieter voice. "Listen, I know you have a wedding night coming up. Let's talk sometime. I'll give you some tips."

Kai threw Thorne's arm from his shoulder. His cheeks colored as he said, "Cinder and I don't need any tips."

"Fine, fine," Thorne said with his hands up. He may have looked like he was surrendering, but he knew he'd already won. "Just tell me where to put my trees."

Wolf carried the evergreens wordlessly beside Thorne. If he thought it was odd they were moving a small forest into a bedroom, he didn't say. They hauled the pines into the room as Thorne took a look around. Thick carpet and dark tapestries made the room feel intimate and luxurious. He eyed the bed, nestled in a corner with deep red blankets, waiting expectantly.

He tried to see it all from Cress' eyes and couldn't help the twinge of nerves he felt deep in his gut. _This will be perfect_ , he reminded himself. Looking back at the bed he remembered red was the color of luck in the Eastern Commonwealth. Seven was a lucky number of trees. And Thorne was the luckiest man he knew. He was about to make love to the best person he'd ever met. It was more than Thorne could have ever hoped for.

And yet...

He couldn't make the nerves disappear. It wasn't that he doubted himself. Captain Carswell Thorne had done this enough to be confident in his abilities. {Oh stars, what if she wanted to know just how many times?} Thorne shook away that thought and focused on what he knew. He knew he could - no, would - leave Cress lying breathless and undone in their bed, a portrait of sleepy ecstasy.

Except this time he wouldn't actually leave. That was the part that terrified him. Waking up with Cress, seeing every expression play out on her face, hoping - desperately hoping - it wouldn't be full of regret. He couldn't let that happen. Tonight had to be perfect for her.

And then Wolf started sniffing. "There's something living in your trees, Thorne." Wolf lifted his head to sniff again.

"What? No" but Wolf nodded. "What kind of something?" Thorne asked with distaste. He was not an animal person.

Wolf furrowed his brow. "It's small, whatever it is. And it smells terrible."

"Alright. Alright," Thorne said again, raking his fingers through his hair. "I'll just, um . . . get it out of here. By, uh…" he shook his head. "What am I going to do?"

There was a glint of excitement in Wolf's green eyes when he said, "Thorne, we're going hunting."

Half an hour later Thorne and Wolf were geared up for battle with their uninvited guest. Armed with a broom in each hand, he beat at the evergreens until a small chipmunk peered out from a rotted hole in the largest of the trees.

"Ahhhh," Thorne shrieked, as the tiny critter ran like hell down the tree trunk. With a snarl, Wolf ran at the tree and Thorne swung the brooms like his life depended on it. Pine needles rained down, covering the floor, the dresser, the bed. Entire boughs were ripped off when Wolf finally pounced on the varmint. A sharp snapping sound was enough to tell Thorne the chipmunk wouldn't be bothering him again.

Wolf walked out of the room triumphant, with a small bundle wrapped in a towel. Thorne tried not to look. He waited for Wolf to say something, but he only shook his head, laughing to himself as he walked away.

Not wanting to know what Wolf would do with the body, Thorne closed the door and gulped down fresh air. His heart raced and he shuddered to think what would have happened if he'd been with Cress instead of Wolf when the animal made an appearance. Thorne caught a glimpse of himself in the large mirror and sighed. Holy spades, he looked terrible. He was disheveled, with pine needles in his hair, and a hole in his shirt where one of the buttons had popped off. There wasn't even time to change. He'd have to go with it, unbuttoning all the buttons above the missing one until his pecs were exposed.

But he was nothing, compared to the room. The beautiful pines had been reduced to bare stumps, the green needles littered everywhere in the room. This was not how he'd imagined tonight going. Thorne was left with no trees, no lucky shirt, nothing to hide behind. All he had left to offer Cress was himself. He hoped it'd be enough.

All day Cress had repeated her mantra: _I am beautiful, I am brave, I am loved by the most heroic man in the galaxy_. She'd been full of nervous excitement throughout the engagement feast. She could hardly pay attention during the tech meeting she'd been invited to afterward, her pulse racing any time she thought about meeting up with Thorne later that night. When she'd told him a week ago that she was ready, she'd hoped they would make love right then and there, like in all the net dramas. Her imagination was so vivid she could practically feel him pressed against her, their arms and legs tangled together on the cargo bay floor. Or maybe he would carry her off to muss the always-unmade bed in the captain's quarters. Either one was fine with her. She'd leaned in to kiss him passionately, to show she was serious. But Thorne had backed away. He'd held her at arm's length, giving promises that he would make her first time everything she could ever want. And he'd barely touched her since.

But he would touch her tonight. She was giddy with anticipation when she found him standing just inside their room. His hair was tousled, and he smelled of wood and the outdoors. His shirt was as blue as his eyes and unbuttoned dangerously low on his chest. It wasn't like him to be so uncovered, but she could hardly take her eyes off him. He was rakish and painfully sexy.

"Hello, Captain," she whispered, when she was an arm's reach from him. Hard as she tried, she kept looking at the bare skin of his chest, imagining how it would feel to touch him.

But Thorne was distracted. "Cress, I, uh . . . I planned something for you tonight. For us. It seemed like such a good idea -" he trailed off before meeting her eyes. "There were pine trees, and then a chipmunk, and my lucky shirt." He held the blue fabric sadly out in front of him and sighed. "Spades, this is a disaster."

Cress didn't know what he was talking about. She walked further into the room but stopped when she noticed a soft bed of pine needles covering the floor. "Wait, is this pine? Like in the forest we saw in the Republic?" Cress lifted a handful of the greenery to her face and inhaled deeply. "I love this smell."

She took the pile of needles over to Thorne so he could smell them, too. His lips quirked as he seemed to regain some of his confidence. "I know you do. That's why I brought a whole forest here tonight. At least there was a forest, until I had an unfortunate situation with a chipmunk. But don't worry," Thorne's eyes took on a familiar teasing glint and Cress felt a tickle of desire low in her belly. "It was a ferocious battle, but I took care of it."

Cress smiled and stepped closer to him. "What about your shirt?" she asked. She was a hair's breadth away from him now. _I am brave_ , she reminded herself, before running her hand down his chest.

"Mmm," he sighed at her touch. "There were some casualties. A couple buttons were lost."

"I wish you'd lost them all," Cress said, before her cheeks lit up in flames.

Thorne's laugh came out a surprised bark.

They stood together quietly for a moment, until Thorne spoke again. "Listen, Cress, I know this didn't turn out to be the perfect night I wanted to give you. So I want you to know - there's no pressure. I just want to be with you. But we don't have to do anything."

 _I am brave, I am beautiful, I am loved by the most heroic man in the galaxy_. Cress took in Thorne's face: the set of his brow, the sincerity in his eyes, the nervous smile on his lips. She looked over the pine needles, from her favorite tree. And she knew. She didn't have to tell herself he loved her, when the truth of it was everywhere in front of her.

Happiness flooded her whole body. But before she could say anything, Thorne grabbed a small glass of amber liquid off the nightstand. Whisky. _Stars, he must have been even more nervous than he looked_ , Cress thought. She watched as a tiny drop clung to the edge of Thorne's lips. Before it could fall, Cress reached up on tiptoe and kissed the whisky from his mouth. "I can't imagine tonight being any more perfect. I know we don't have to do anything. . . But I hope we will."

It was all the encouragement Thorne needed. His lips brushed her lips, her jaw, her neck as he wrapped his arms around her. Their kisses became frantic, a wild mix of lips and tongues on skin. Tighter and tighter he pulled them, until they stumbled together to the bed. Thorne laid Cress down gently on the lucky red blankets, but before his arms could pull away, she yanked him down on top of her.


End file.
